Take this key step to strengthen your retirement savings in 2019

If you want to position your retirement savings for success in 2019, now is the right time to do it.

That's because October tends to mark the beginning of annual benefits enrollment for employees. It's when you review your health and life insurance selections for the upcoming year.

Since your employee benefits are already top of mind, you might as well take a few minutes and sign into your 401(k) account, too.

Pay close attention to these aspects of your retirement plan. It could help you step up your savings in the new year and head off a disaster.

Fishy activity

It's easy to ignore those mailers from your 401(k) plan administrator. Indeed, only 57 percent of people recently polled by Charles Schwab said they review their annual fee disclosures.

The plan provider surveyed 1,000 401(k) plan participants and found that about 4 in 10 reviewed their quarterly statements in the last year, too.

If you blow off your statements, you run the risk of missing suspicious account activity, said Marina Edwards, a senior retirement consultant at Willis Towers Watson.

Six of her clients have had this experience.

Hackers have been scraping up personal details and contacting providers' call centers, disguising themselves as the account owner, said Edwards.

Many people have been conditioned to think about not opening the statements, to "set it and forget it" because investments fluctuate, she said.

"If there was a fraudulent withdrawal in small increments — say $15,000 or $20,000 — would you notice it if you were looking at your balance online?" said Edwards.

"We are encouraging people to pay attention to the transactions and make sure there isn't unauthorized activity."

Bump up your contribution

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Remember, you can contribute up to $18,500 to your 401(k) each year.

If you're turning 50 at any point in 2019, Uncle Sam has a birthday gift for you: You can put away an additional $6,000 in your retirement plan.

If you don't have the flexibility to max out your retirement plan, try to save enough to get the employer match, if available.

About 1 in 5 workers isn't putting away enough money to qualify for the match, according to data from Alight Solutions.

While you're reviewing your retirement plan contributions, see if your company offers an auto-escalation feature, which will automatically boost your savings rate by 1 percent or 2 percent each year, said Edwards.

While a traditional 401(k) allows you to save money on a pretax basis, you're using after-tax dollars to contribute to a Roth 401(k). At employers that offer both, the most you can contribute combined is $18,500, plus the additional $6,000 if over 50.

Direct contributions to Roth IRAs are subject to income limits — you cannot contribute directly to the account if your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $135,000 if single or $199,000 if married.

HSA contributions

The next best thing you can do is squirrel money away in your health savings account, which is compatible with a high-deductible health savings plan.

More than 9 in 10 employers expect to offer high-deductible plans in 2019, according to a recent survey by the National Business Group on Health.

HSAs, as they are known, allow you to put money into an account on a pretax basis, where it can accumulate free of taxes. If you draw down the account to pay for qualified health expenses, you can do so on a tax-free basis.